The Portuguese Justice announced this Thursday (28) the opening of ten investigations into cases of suspected sexual harassment by members of the Catholic Church in the country. The investigations were based on testimonies of victims given to an independent commission created precisely to investigate this type of situation.
Since January, the collegiate has collected 352 testimonies, according to the most recent balance sheet, from the beginning of this month. The number, according to the Portuguese press, would only represent the tip of the iceberg. “Actually, the number of victims is much higher,” said psychiatrist Pedro Stretch, who heads the group, citing that the testimonies often concern more than one victim.
Although most of the cases took place decades ago — and therefore are already subject to statute of limitations —, 17 reports were forwarded to the Public Ministry and gave rise to ten initial inquiries. Of these, three have already been shelved, due to lack of evidence or the fact that they have been investigated in the past.
The agency did not provide further details on the progress of the other investigations or on the dates on which they began.
Portugal’s independent commission was formed after a similar process in France last year revealed that some 3,000 Church members had abused more than 200,000 children and youth over 70 years.
A month after the conclusion of the work, bishops recognized the institutional responsibility and the systemic dimension of the abuses, “implying a duty of justice and reparation”.
In Portugal, the commission has set up a website and a telephone line to receive complaints and reports, but it also has access to the archives of the dioceses. By the end of this year, the collegiate must produce a report on the conclusion of the work, to be sent to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.
Dom Manuel Clemente, the country’s highest prelate, has already declared that the Catholic Church is willing to “acknowledge the mistakes of the past” and ask forgiveness from victims of sexual violence. He himself recently found himself involved in an episode, accused of having acted to cover up a priest who allegedly committed harassment.
According to a report in the newspaper Observador, Dom Clemente learned of a case in the 1990s, met the victim two decades later and chose not to inform the authorities. In a statement on Wednesday he said the report contained a number of errors and said the parish priest had been expelled from the Church.
“I am sorry for all the suffering that this situation may have caused to this particular victim, but also to all the others”, he said, asking that no one be afraid to report cases of this type. Dom Clemente also reaffirmed his “total availability” to cooperate with the authorities.
In April, Pedro Strecht had said that investigations indicated signs of involvement by Church officials, including still-active bishops, in cover-up cases.
